Posted tagged ‘Marquette Senior High School’

…Just found this picture in my gallery from the UP Tennis Finals at Marquette Senior High School this afternoon. The picture says the whole story here. The Flivvers took home the UP Tennis Team Title with 21 points and head coach Mark Shanks gets the celebratory shower from his team after a great team victory. The kids were planning this type of celebration the whole day and it was a hot day in Marquette so it was nice for Mr. Shanks to take a shower a little early…

Continuing with the countdown I was doing research on the sports news in the upper peninsula and I came across an article stating that the first round of the UPLGA has been completed and all the high seeds advanced. That brought back to mind one of my favorite days during July when I saw a young 16 year old junior from Marquette Senior High School win the ULPGA Championship at Indian Lake Golf Course in Manisitque on July 18, 2012. Her name was Avery Rochester.

In the championship match held that afternoon, Avery beat seasoned veteran Polly Anderson of DePere, Wis. in match play 4 and 3 but she did it in remarkable fashion. On the 15th hole, she sunk a 20-foot birdie putt to seal the deal. (You can see the shot on the highlights below)

I had never been to this golf course and I never got to watch Avery play during the High School season because I started working at TV 6 in June when the season already finished. When I got to the first tee of the championship hole I saw Avery and Polly and I thought this was going to be “David vs. Golliath” match but it was actually the opposite.

After seven holes Avery was 3-up, but Anderson stormed back to win the next three holes to even the match heading to the back nine. So you thought this is when the tides were turning? That was not the case. This Redette had an immense amount of composure as she won the next four holes in a row starting on the 12th.

I had never seen anything like that before in my time up there. When I parked my car outside the golf course, I saw Avery walk out of a trailer next to the station car and I thought to myself, “She won this tournament staying in there the whole week? That’s extremely impressive for a young teen who probably just celebrated her sweet sixteen this past year!”

Now here is the quote of the entire moment. When I asked at the clubhouse how she felt about being crowned UPLGA championship she said, “I don’t really know what to feel right now. I’m happy, I’m excited, it’s just overwhelming,”

Avery is such a fun girl who cherishes every moment and doesn’t forget anything. I wish her all the luck going to University of Missouri to play golf. She will do great as a Tiger for the next four years!